Shubhabrata Dutta
Age does not have much of a role to play when matters of the heart are in question. The attraction between a male and a female is something so primitive that no societal restriction can prevent it from taking place. Just like other forms of art, films have grappled with the topic and depicted love in several forms throughout the medium’s history. Film is the medium that can give expression to a wide range of human emotions and capture the nuances of human relationships. Relationships between people of a noticeable age difference have been depicted in films for a long time. If you wish to watch some of these movies, then you have arrived at the right place.
7. Lady J (2018)
A French period drama directed by Emmanuel Mouret, ‘Lady J’ follows Madame de La Pommeraye (Cécile de France), a widow, who gives in to the advances of libertine Marquis des Arcis (Édouard Baer). But when he starts to neglect her after a couple of years, her heartbroken and angry self decides to take revenge on him. She thus ropes in her own illegitimate daughter Mademoiselle de Joncquières (Alice Isaaz), who works at a nightclub, and sends her Marquis’ way. Marquis, being a true-to-form libertine, falls for the young girl easily. Is this the beginning of Marquis’ path to heartbreak akin to La Pommeraye’s? To find out, you can stream ‘Lady J’ here.
6. Loving Adults (2022)
A Danish film directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg, ‘Loving Adults’ shows a middle-aged husband, Christian (Dar Salim), and his wife, Leonora (Sonja Richter), falling out after she comes to know of his affair with a younger woman, Xenia (Sus Wilkins). Xenia wants Christian to make their relationship official, but Christian cannot do it. On the other hand, Leonora finds compromising intel about Christian that she plans to use against him if he leaves her. A curious case of “loving adults,” the film shows the extent to which people can go to get what they want. You can watch the film here.
5. Miller’s Girl (2024)
Martin Freeman plays the older man while Jenna Ortega plays the younger woman in the Jade Halley Bartlett-directed subtle erotic thriller. Teenager Cairo Sweet begins getting closer to her creative writing teacher, Jonathan Miller, a married man. A kiss takes things a bit too far, and their secret relationship starts affecting their personal lives. Miller’s sexual desire takes a hit of unacceptability, while Cairo’s urge for domination trips on revenge. Is what they have even romantic, or is it something else that they deliberately mistake for romance? A film that lives and breathes its subjective nature, ‘Miller’s Girl’ is as psychological as it is erotic, both more of the mind than of the body. You can watch it here.
4. Rebecca (2020)
Netflix’s ‘Rebecca’ is based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel of the same name, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest literary works of all time and has been adapted for the screen multiple times. The plot revolves around the unnamed 20-something British female protagonist (Lily James), who meets handsome widower Maxim “Max” de Winter (Armie Hammer) while traveling across the world with an American socialite. They quickly fall in love and get married, and the protagonist accompanies Max to his ancestral home in Cornwall, a sprawling estate known as Manderley. There, she doesn’t necessarily get the welcome she was hoping for and finds herself often being compared to Max’s late wife, Rebecca. Feel free to check out the movie here.
3. No Limit (2022)
Directed by David M. Rosenthal and based on a true story, Netflix’s ‘No Limit’ or ‘Sous Emprise’ follows Roxana Aubrey, who flees from the mundaneness of her school life in Paris and travels to Southern France hoping to become a freediving expert. She meets Pascal Gautier, an accomplished diver who is quite a few years older than her. But they connect over the mutual love for freediving. As they get into a relationship, things go well between them until jealousy takes over. Roxana’s skills and abilities soon garner her much popularity, while Pascal fails to set a new freediving record and nearly dies while attempting it. Moreover, his doctors tell him he must stop freediving, or he may not survive the next time. You can check out the film here.
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2. Dear Zindagi (2016)
Writer-director Gauri Shinde’s ‘Dear Zindagi’ is a Hindi-language Indian film that revolves around Kaira (Alia Bhatt), a young woman who wants to be a cinematographer and maybe direct a film someday but is currently happy to lead a restless party girl life. After she sleeps with film producer Raghuvendra and breaks up with her childhood sweetheart Sid, Raghuvendra proceeds to marry his former girlfriend. When she is evicted from her apartment, Kaira is forced to go live with her estranged parents in Goa. It is there that she starts seeing psychologist Dr. Jehangir “Jug” Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) for her issues. While the relationship between Jug and Kaira remains platonic for most of the film, the latter does develop feelings for her therapist. You can watch ‘Dear Zindagi’ here.
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1. Blonde (2022)
Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, ‘Blonde’ does what art should do in its highest aspiration: it divides its audience. The film revolves around the life and legend of Norma Jeane Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe (played by Ana de Armas). The film is the second adaptation (after the 2001 made-for-TV film starring Poppy Montgomery) of Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 namesake book. ‘Blonde’ is not a pleasant watch, as it relentlessly depicts the vicious abuse that Monroe endures throughout her life. She was in relationships with quite a few older gentlemen, including playwright Arthur Miller, President John F. Kennedy, and baseball player Joe DiMaggio. The film depicts that some of these relationships were wonderful, while others only brought her horror and pain. You can stream it here.
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